Chinese woman pulled over for breastfeeding her child while riding a moped

In China, the sight of mothers cradling their babies in a rush to get somewhere is not that uncommon. With the pressing demands of modern-day society, many mothers are juggling two or three things at once and it’s hard not to feel anything but admiration for them. But as with anything, there will always be someone who takes a given concept to the extreme.

As you can clearly see from the photo above, one woman thought she could redefine what it means to multitask by breastfeeding her child while riding a moped down a busy street. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before the news made its way onto YouTube and consequences arose.

A clear danger to others

The woman, from Yuzhou, China, was pulled over by police after they was spotted her breastfeeding her one-and-a-half-year-old baby boy while riding the bike. American news source Huffington Post was quick to pick up the story and reported that the mother was breastfeeding the infant as she sped down the road with both hands on the moped’s handles. The infant’s posture looked to be very unstable, raising concerns about its safety.

Released after cautioning

Putting your infant in this much danger, you’d expect a hefty penalty but this woman only received a caution. She was told that should she repeat the crime, her moped would be confiscated, though no mention of the child was made. In complete contrast to her being released with a mere caution however, a police spokesman then went on to say, “She was risking her life, her son’s life and the lives of all the other road users.”

If you thought this kind of behavior was unique to China, you might be surprised to hear that a similar incident took place in the US as well. Ohio woman Catherine Donkers was pulled over by police for breastfeeding her little one while driving her car. However, she argued that she hadn’t done anything wrong, saying: “It’s not like I’m trying to change a diaper while I’m driving, she pretty much just lays there on the pillow in my lap.”

She then went on to say, “I would certainly submit that talking on a cell phone causes far more distraction than nursing a child while she’s just laying there.”

It seems that some people just don’t know where to draw the line between what is acceptable and what is downright dangerous. Anyone pressed for time and thinking they can kill two birds with one stone in this way should reconsider, as the only thing that you’re likely to kill is another yourself or an innocent person.